The present invention relates to metal working machines and more particularly to improvements in tube and rod end shaping and finishing machines.
In metal working, it is frequently necessary to finish the ends of tubes or rods by deburring, chamfering, flaring and the like and many types of machines, both bench or floor mounted and portable have been developed for such purposes as described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,682 issued Apr. 26, 1988. A similar end finishing machine is shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,362 which also is capable of shaping the ends of rod or tube workpiece for a distance beyond the ends thereof.
There is also a need for an end finishing or chamfering machine suitable for high volume protection and which has a capability of running through repetitive cycles of locating a workpiece, securing it in position for chamfering or otherwise forming the end of the workpiece, moving the cutting or forming member away from the workpiece, and releasing the finished part for removal and replacement by another workpiece. While such a machine should cycle smoothly through the above operations, it should also be capable of manual operation for set-ups and limited production runs.
Where volumes are somewhat less, there is a place in the market for a semi-automatic machine of the type described above which is simpler, less expensive and yet capable of reasonable productivity where production runs are limited. There is also a need for such machines which are capable of securing tubular or pipe-type workpieces from the inside to:
1. permit automatic self centering of the work piece on high tolerance thin wall tubular stock; PA1 2. work on pieces that must be accurately located from the i.d. surface in order to be machined correctly; and PA1 3. work on those parts which cannot be gripped on the outside due to a delicate coating, plating or irregular obstruction (e.g., fins).